Wabash Capitalizes on DePauw Miscues in 45-7 Monon Bell Win

Wabash turned all five DePauw turnovers into scores and added a special teams touchdown to keep the Monon Bell with a 45-7 win over the Tigers at Blackstock Stadium.

The ninth-ranked Little Giants improved to 10-0 with the win, while the Tigers finished the season at 4-5 for the first losing season since 1995.

Wabash started with good field position on its opening drive of the game after stopping DePauw on downs. Quarterback Chase Belton ran five straight times to open the drive to move the Little Giants to the DePauw 10. Graham Wilkerson and Patrick Keller recorded a second-down sack and Belton's pass on third down was incomplete. Ian MacDougall nailed a 32-yard field goal to give Wabash a 3-0 lead with 8:49 left in the first.

The teams exchanged punts before Wabash's Luke Zinsmaster recovered a fumbled snap from center at the DePauw 33. Vann Hunt was stopped for no gain on first down, but then scampered 33 yards for a score on the next play to extend the lead to 10-0 with 2:51 remaining in the quarter.

Just 27 seconds later, Jonathon Koop intercepted Will King's third-down pass and ran it 22 yards for a score to make it 17-0. DePauw was forced to punt on its next possession and Wabash's Wes Chamblee received the boot, on the run, at the DePauw 44 and took it all the way to the end zone to extend the lead to 24-0 with 49 seconds left in the first.

Later in the second, King was sacked by AJ Akinribade and Pat Clegg recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown which made it 31-0 with 5:32 left in the half.

DePauw's only points and its only trip into the red zone came late in the third when the Tigers took over on the Wabash 43 and Ellis picked up 18 yards on first down followed by a 9-yard pass from King to Nikko Sansone two plays later. Ellis then carried for another 11 and scored on a 5-yard run. Eric Malm's extra-point made it 31-7.

The Tigers' defense stopped Wabash on its first possession of the fourth, but a long Wabash punt pushed the DePauw back to its own 22. After an incomplete pass on first down, King was intercepted by Denzel Wilkins at the 28 and he took it back for a score to push the lead to 38-7 with 13:49 remaining.

Later in the fourth, Wabash's Drew Walls intercepted King at the DePauw 19 and returned it to the 17. Three plays later Andy Walsh scored on a 4-yard run with 3:57 left to end the scoring.

Each team had nine first downs in the game, while Wabash held a 180-150 advantage in total yards. The Little Giants rushed for 159 yards to DePauw's 39, while the Tigers held a 111-21 edge through the air.

King was 16-of-36 in just his second collegiate start and totaled 111 yards. Bobby Coburn and DJ Steward each caught four passes and Jordan Hickam had three. Ellis, who missed the last five games due to injury, rushed for 43 yards in 14 carries and finished his career ranked 10th in school history with 1,709 rushing yards.

Hunt paced Wabash with 59 yards on eight carries, while Belton completed 2-of-11 passes for 21 yards. As a team, the Little Giants completed 2-of-16 for 21 yards. Chamblee had both catches.

Ben Bradstatter led DePauw with 11 tackles followed by Keller and Wilkerson with seven each. Wilkerson led with 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Michael Fultz recorded four hurries and JD Robinson broke up two passes.

CJ Gum led Wabash with 16 tackles and Cody Buresh followed with six. Akinribade led the Little Giants with one sack and 2.0 tackles for loss, while Austin Hodges had two breakups.